The present application is directed to apparatus and methods for minimizing the prospect for loss of control of an aircraft that has a control yoke assembly when an airbag expands to fill a space between the control yoke and an individual, thus the present application is a continuation in part of aforesaid U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/287,386.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and processes for improving the ability of an aircraft pilot/occupant to survive a crash. More particularly, the present invention relates to safety oriented apparatus and methods for employing airbags to increase the prospect of survival of an aircraft occupant despite a serious deceleration of the aircraft.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following two U.S. patents are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,902 entitled "Aircraft Airbag Protection Apparatus and Method".
U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,884 entitled "Adaptable Aircraft Airbag Protection Apparatus and Method".
Aircraft crashes often expose the occupants to serious or lethal injuries due to physical contact with instrument panel switches and instrumentation, as well as with the aircraft controls, in what could otherwise be a survivable accident. The incorporation of an airbag system in an aircraft provides a resilient protective barrier between the pilot and the instrument panel on the occasion of many common aircraft accidents. In order to provide for control of the aircraft during an unintended airbag inflation, the inflation size of the airbag in the proximity of the aircraft's control yoke must be limited.
An example of the use of an airbag in an aircraft is U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,313 wherein an airbag prevents operator contact with the sighting tube of a combat helicopter.
The use of airbags in land vehicles, such as automobiles, is well known and is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,819,204, 4,262,931 and 4,449,204.
While prior devices such as exemplified above are generally useful for their limited intended uses, the need remains in the art for the combination of a new, unusual and unconventional aircraft airbag shape and a new and unusual aircraft impact absorption control yoke, which structural elements work together and cooperate in a new and an unusual manner as a unitary system to provide a margin of protection that is greater than the margin of protection that would be provided by either individual structural element alone.